There were 14 deaths recorded in the years I was on Manus Island. I still see their faces — especially my roommate’s, Reza Barati. He was murdered before my eyes, while in the custody of the Australian government. [According to eyewitness reports, Barati was beaten to death by guards and other contractors.]
People died of preventable deaths there. Everyone suffered from mental or physical health problems. The only treatment we received was paracetamol and water. I remember Hamid (whose name has been changed to protect his identity). He never received proper treatment, as there was no doctor in the medical center here. They amputated both his legs in the capital, Port Moresby. He died from septicemia.
But we weren’t just denied treatment on Manus, those in charge were also inexplicably reckless with vaccinations. I was an interpreter for a friend, FRT001, who came on the same boat as me. I witnessed him receive 60 vaccines in under a month. We tried to stop them, but if you refused a vaccine, they would call the Emergency Response Team. My friend was eventually sent back to Iran where he died not long after.
People would self-immolate with petrol in detention. We were beaten. At times the violence was extreme, and you could be assaulted for no reason. When a packet of cigarettes can guarantee your safety, you understand how cheap human life can be.
With offshore detention, the Australian government paid Nauru and Papua New Guinea to do its dirty work. There was no law there, and they could do what they wanted without fear of the courts. We were denied access to lawyers. We were out of sight, out of mind — exactly as was intended.
I tried to take my life several times on Manus, and the memories still give me nightmares. I lost almost seven years of my youth in detention. Those are days I will never get back. I still take a lot of tablets just to get through the day.
